A/N: DUN DUN DUN!

Hey everyone, sorry that I didn't post a chapter last week but this chapter took a strange turn, and by strange turn I mean totally different. Those of you who read my previous attempt at this story you would see that this chapter 4 is nothing like the previous one.

Actually I was on my toes the whole time with this chapter because I literally had no clue what was going to happen. That might sound confusing to all of you. I never did explain how I do some things with this story.

Well you seeeeeeeee, some of the things that happen in the story aren't in my control. I leave it up to a coin or die toss. If any of you know DnD then you sorta get what I mean. Anyways, as much as I would like to explain further it might spoil the chapter so I will explain further in the next chapter.

Now on with the show . . . .

On with the show . . . .

Ooooooon with the shooooooow . . . .

Seriously people, you can't follow one simple ins-

{Theatre curtains fall}

Chapter 4: Morning of Halloween

Hogwarts Common Room, October 31

Seven in the morning Harry stretched his arms and moved his bed curtain getting out of bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His mission to stop his name coming out of the goblet probably failed. Harry waited till three in the morning before giving up and going back to bed. He was sure if Barty Crouch Jr. didn't come by then there was a good chance the deed was done already. 'Damn'

With a groggy head, Harry made his way to the showers, which were quite empty due to it being a Saturday. The only reason why he was awake was from the habit of sleeping very few hours and waking up early in the morning. Turning on the water, he made sure it was freezing, making Harry's whole body alert in a short time.

After the cold shock he gave himself, he went back to his dorm room and put his school clothes and cloak on. 'Note to self, again, buy me some nice clothes.' It was a weekend for crying out loud, and all he had to wear was his uniform. Harry might not be vain or fashionable, but he'd be damned before he allowed himself to be subjected to wearing the same thing over and over and over again for the next three years, the hand-me-downs from the Dursley's were at best meant to be used as fuel for a fire.

Letting his roommates sleep the day away, Harry made sure to not make that much noise as he left the room. What came as a surprise to him, though it shouldn't have, was when he went down the stairs, instead of finding an empty Common Room, there sitting at a table with a few books spread across the table with parchment was Hermione.

Finding time to kill he thought he would enjoy his time with her, but before that, he wanted to have some fun. Moving around out of her sight Harry did his best to not make a sound while sneaking up behind her and after a few times thinking it wasn't going to happen, Harry finally made it behind her without getting caught.

"Hows my early bird?"

The reaction was instantaneous. Hermione jumped so high in surprise the table actually got knocked forward and the chair she was sitting on falling back. Harry honestly didn't see that coming, his idea of getting a small jump from her ended up with her giving a quick scream, a knocked down table and chair, with books, papers, and ink spread all over the floor. 'Oops.'

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione was peeved beyond belief, and Harry was sure it was because of embarrassment. "What exactly do you think you are doing?"

"Ummmmmmm, having fun?" Harry moved his hand through his hair, he guessed what he did was a bit much. "Sorry 'Mione, I didn't mean to freak you out that badly. I thought you would just give a small jump, I swear."

Hermione kept her eyes narrowed at him for about another minute before taking a deep breath and began picking the chair up. Thinking it would be best for his own safety, Harry started to help clean up the mess he inadvertently caused. As soon it was mostly cleaned up, minus the ink stains, he took a seat across from her. She, on the other hand, was still annoyed so choose to ignore Harry and began working again.

"Oh come on, your not still mad are you?"

Stopping her writing, Hermione, again, gave him a glare. "Of course not, why would I be mad that your prank ruined two of my essays and spilled a months worth of ink."

Harry had the decency to flinch, " Ok, ok, I will admit that the timing was bad. It wasn't really a prank though, just a friendly scare. You know I wouldn't go as far as what Fred or George would do." He stopped to give a thoughtful pose, "Well, I wouldn't stoop to their level towards you. A few Slytherins, probably."

Hermione rolled her eyed but then gave a small smile, " I know Harry, just don't do it again while I'm writing, deal?"

"Deal, I guess I should have gone with a good morning instead."

Harry head Hermione snort at his statement, but then moved her papers to the side and gave her full attention to him. "Well I was surprised that anyone was up, everyone is usually asleep on Saturday. Including you."

He heard the unasked question and shrugged in response. "Like I told you yesterday, I guess I am trying to be a bit more mature. Sleeping in does sound nice, but every Saturday feels like a waste." He could see the shock in Hermione's eyes. Chuckling Harry started picking up some of her books and stood up from the table, "Since there are no classes today and meals don't end till three, want to go to the library for a bit?" The delightful surprise in her eyes, like a child on Christmas, brought a soft smile to his face. Harry knew today was going to end badly, just like every other Halloween, but knowing that he just made Hermione's day, made it a little bit more bearable to him.

Lunch, or brunch for the late risers, was in full swing when Harry and Hermione walked into the Great Hall. Hermione tapped Harry and pointed out where Ron was. They were finally noticed by the red-head when they sat across from him.

"Where have you two been?" Ron asked, with some food in his mouth.

"Ron, chew before speaking. Harry and I went to the library this morning while you were sleeping in." Hermione chirped while grabbing a sandwich and an apple. At the same time, Harry grabbed two sandwiches, a bowl of grapes, and a few of the scotch eggs left over from breakfast; He was famished.

"Right, library. Next, you'll tell me you were helping Harry with his Divination homework too." The sarcasm that Ron gave would have flooded the whole room if it was visible.

"And what is that supposed to mean Ronald?" Hermione said back with annoyance. Harry looked between Ron and Hermione, feeling as though he was missing something.

"Nothing, but if you didn't want to tell me what you two were doing, you could have at least gave a believable reason." Ron shot back with a fake nonchalant attitude. This conversation was feeling more like a tennis match to Harry with how much he was moving his head left and right.

"Believable?! Why would you not believe that Harry and I were in the library?"

Ron looked offended like she was questioning his intelligence, which Hermione probably was. "Harry, willingly, go to the library? Please, the only one who likes the library is you, Book Worm."

Hermione visibly flinched at the name, which made Harry get off the sidelines of the conversation. "Ron, if you are done being an arse, you could see the bag full of books beside the both us." Harry knew that calling him an arse wasn't going to defuse the situation but he long learned that the only way to stop a Weasley temper from rising was to agree with them. He wasn't about to agree with Ron on this.

Ron saw the bags but, as Harry predicted, wasn't going to admit he was wrong. Instead, he decided to invest further into whatever delusion he had. "Like you actually like to read Harry, though I can see why you would like to keep it a secret. I mean who would admit it when it's Hermione." At this point Ron was red, and his voice became spiteful, Harry had to actually focus not reliving a memory.

Hermione herself was just about as red as Ron, but while he was angry, her face showed pure fury, making Harry shiver, and her voice gave a tremble trying to contain her rage. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, you loathsome troll. I can't believe you would insinuate that."

Harry was looking very confused, still reeling from Ron thinking he didn't like to read. Hermione seemed to already pick up on what Ron's delusion was, but Harry was still a few steps behind.

"Oh I'm sorry, next time I'll just ask if you're helping Harry with his homework in a broom closet," Ron said back acidly, loud enough for about half the hall to hear.

Harry blinked. Blinked again. By the time it clicked in his mind that Ron thought He and Hermione were making out somewhere, Harry saw Hermione get up and walk fast paced out the Great Hall. Sighing loudly he gave the idiot a small glare, "Ron, I will only say this once. You have done a lot of stupid stuff over the years, and I am positive it will keep happening in the future, but I think this will be one of the biggest fuck ups in your life." Before he let Ron speak, Harry got up and grabbed both his and her bag of books, then left the Great Hall, his plate of food untouched.

He was hungry as hell, but Hermione was more significant than some food.

It took some time for Harry to find Hermione. He dropped off the bags of books in his trunk in the dorms, which allowed him to get the Marauders Map. Using that he saw her outside, and following the map further when out of the castle he found her at his 'brooding corner.' Putting the map away Harry made the final steps to Hermione.

His heart broke seeing her. Hermione had basically curled into herself, having her arms around her legs and head in them. All that you could see was a cloak with bushy brown hair that was failing to cry silently. Harry walked up to her, making sure not to be quite as to avoid an episode like early this morning, and just like she did to him the day before, sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Though Hermione acted no different, she didn't push him away, and to Harry's limited knowledge of girls, he considered that as a good thing.

After some time Hermione stopped crying, but she didn't move from her curled position. Though it was muffled, Harry was able to hear her talk. "You know what hurts the most?"

Harry had to think about this, should he go with the earnest answer or funny one? He decided to go the safe route, "That he paired you up with a skinny boned guy like me?"

"Take this seriously Harry."

As Harry was about to make another comment, she raised her head and looked back at him. The words died in his mouth as he saw her bloodshot eyes and the tear stains on her cheeks. Pulling her closer to him in his arms, Harry gave real thought to her question. Replaying the whole scenario from the Great Hall, he thought he might know what she means. "Ron made it sound like being with you would be a great shame?"

Hermione gave a bitter laugh, "Exactly! You heard him-" and making an awful imitation of Ron "-Though I can see why you would like to keep it a secret. I mean who would admit it when it's Hermione." Hearing it again, even from herself, tears began to fall down her face. "Am I that terrible? Am I really that unattractive for having uncontrollable hair, being a know-it-all, having buck teeth, or born as a mudblo-"

"Enough Hermione!" Harry was going to end her self-loathing. He never thought there would be a day that he would hear her describe herself with that filthy word. His Hermione might have had insecurities, but in the end, she was always happy being herself. If he had to remind her then that was what Harry was going to do. "We both know you're not that terrible or un-una-unattractive," damn hormones making him stutter and blush, "Ron was just acting like a, if I recall your words correctly, loathsome troll."

Hermione, though still sniffing, physically relaxed in Harry's arms. "I still have all those problems though."

Harry rolled his own eyes at her statement, 'I wonder if this is how girls feel when the guys try to deny having emotions.' "Hermione, there is nothing wrong with you. We all have things we don't like about ourselves or others. Seamus is a walking explosion, Dean sees women as conquests, Nevil is more skittish than a young unicorn, Lavender had a full belief in Trelawney's predictions, and I have the body of a chicken-" the last statement got a chuckle out of Hermione. "- but at the same time, Seamus knows his potions and helps Nevil when he can, Dean still has a kind heart, Nevil is as loyal as they come when you dig it out of him, Lavender will always listen to your problems as long as your a girl, and me . . . "

Harry felt Hermione wrap her arms around his and saw her looking out towards the lake, "Your amazing Harry, you can never turn away when others are in trouble-"

"Without you, I would have mucked it up badly-"

"You don't have a chicken bone body, its called having lean muscles-

"Your not a know-it-all, you're intelligent which is amazing-"

Hermione huffed at Harry then, "Well your socially awkward-"

"Your personality fits your hair-"

"Was that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?"

"And if you bite your lower lip with those 'buck teeth' I'm sure not a single guy would complain."

Hermione at this point dived her head back into her legs "Haaaaaaarry!" Harry gave a loud laugh, which made him lower his head into her back to muffle it a bit. "I can't believe you just said that."

Neither could he actually, but honestly, he couldn't care. "Feeling better now 'Mione?"

Hermione stilled in his arms before she slowly untangled herself from Harry's and went towards the lake. She reached its shores and just stared out, giving off a vibe of melancholy. Confused, Harry followed her and stood next to her. "Everything ok, did I say something wrong?"

"Did you mean what you said?"

Warning flags rang in his head, and Harry had a massive urge to walk away from this conversation. When he ignored that feeling and began to answer, Harry almost chose to go with funny or to brush the whole thing off. Instead, he gave an honest answer. "Of course Hermione, why wouldn't I."

She turned to look at him, a bit red in the face but also confused. "Harry, I know boys are slow, but even you must have realized what you said. I mean you called me attractive and those other things and-"

Harry understanding what she means, a rare moment in his book, stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, so I think you're attractive. That doesn't mean I'm asking you to be my girlfriend or to come with me to the nearest broom closet. I think half of the girls at Hogwarts are attractive in some fashion, of course, I think some girls are more attractive than others too. I am also sure you think more than one guy is attractive too. We are barely teenagers Hermione, it's not like we are going to choose our other half in an instant."

Throughout his speech she kept an eye on him, having her full undivided attention. Seeing that she was waiting for him to continue, he continued on. "I will admit things are weird at some point being friends with the opposite sex has it'll probably get worse as we get older. Ron is a perfect example of that, he thinks your attractive too you but because of jealousy, and whatever else goes on with that idiot's head, he lashed out." Harry stopped than slapped his face, "I'm not explaining this very well am I?"

Hermione finally gave a genuine smile and chuckled, "No but you're lucky we've been friends for so long that I understand boy talk."

"Thank Merlin, because I had no clue what I was saying." With that over, they gave each other a deep hug, resting there heads against each other. "No matter what 'Mione, just know that I will always have your back, just like how I know you will still have mine." She gave a small nod, and after a minute in comfortable silence they let go of each other and started heading back up towards the castle.

"You know Harry, even though this day has had its ups and downs I dare say I've been given one of the best ego boosts any girl could ask for."

Harry gave your a raised eye-brow before finally giving in, "Alright, I'll bite. How has today given you an ego boost?"

When they reached the doors to the castle, she looked at him with a mischevious smile, "Well it's not every day a girl hears that her two friends think she is attractive." With those words out of her mouth, she turns back forward and with confidence in her step, yelled back to Harry. "Well come on Harry, we didn't check those books out of the library just for them to collect dust, and I would like to at least start reading one before tonight."

Harry snorted at her behavior, but thinking it could be much worse, he just shook his head and followed her with his hands in his pockets and a content smile on his face.